This Supreme Court Case Is The Biggest Threat To Organized Labor In Years
EDITOR'S NOTE: Bluegrass State union members will gather in Louisville for a “Working People’s Day of Action” rally in Louisville Saturday, two days before the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the first oral arguments in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31. The rally is set for 11 a.m. to noon at the UAW 862 hall, 3000 Fern Valley Rd. Dozens of similar rallies are planned across the country. “The main focus of our rally is to stand against the war on working people, which includes the attempt by Gov. Bevin to gut public pensions, the repeal of prevailing wage, so-called ‘right to work’ and the attacks on public education, which include establishing charter schools,” said Tim Morris, a spokesperson for the Greater Louisville Central Labor Council, which supports the rally. Click here to learn more about the rally.
By DAVE JAMIESON
Mark Janus doesn’t want to pay fees to the labor union that represents him. If the Supreme Court gives him the chance to opt out, the Illinois state employee will gladly take the justices up on their offer.
So, too, could millions of other public sector workers across the country, which would be a huge blow to the U.S. labor movement and, by extension, the Democratic Party.
Janus, a child support specialist at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, is at the center of what could be the most consequential labor case the court has heard in years. He works under a contract negotiated between the state and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a union he wants nothing to do with. But AFSCME has to advocate for Janus whether he wants it to or not, because the law requires a union to represent everyone in a bargaining unit equally.